“Sect Leader, the great and second young lords are constantly being called Cult Leaders in their own right, and their maternal sides hold a strong presence within the Cult. It is meaningless.”
I put my drink down and look at White Face Young Lord.
“Are you trying to test my patience?”
To which he displays a dejected smile as he says,
“It is true. You don’t even have the intention to save me. After you calm down with your drink and listen to what I say, I will be dead.”
It seems that my persuasive technique is lacking.
“Listen here, carefully. You already lost your internal Qi. Even if a little of your power remains, you are now an idiot worse than the Low-Down Sect. Like this, I can send you out alive and still get you back too. Will your family be fine?”
“…”
“All your Qi is gone, and you got beaten down by someone. How do you think your family will treat you after they know that you got dragged around by the Low-Down Sect Leader? Think and then answer.”
He kept silent as he thought through it. I point my finger at him.
“This is why I am sending you on a trip. If you are confident, then you can head back in this state. In exchange, the place where the cure is being made needs to be revealed. It is even better if it is a different place from where your family is. I will burn the place where the cure is made and then you can run back to your family.”
“Why are you so desperate to get rid of the poison?”
Honestly, the answer was too simple.
A poison strong enough to make Moyong Baek struggle for an answer. It is better to take down such a thing in advance. I came to the conclusion that this would end up becoming a problem for both the strong and the weak. If people get addicted to this, they will run to find it. There is a chance that farmers would also want it and then they would end up exchanging rice for it.
The expected power of the Illusion Demon would grow.
“A guy like Byuk Geom isn’t someone to be under others. That kind of guy is currently a slave which is a problem. The Cult Leader could abuse this later, so I cannot just let this be. My patience ends here, so it is your turn to speak. I will count to three.”
“…”
Making up my mind to kill the idiot, I begin to fold my fingers.
“One, two, three.”
And he says,
“It is in Mount Hua.”
“Where in there? Mount Hua isn’t just one of two. You insane bastard, it is an entire range of mountains so how do you expect me to find it?”
“West side.”
“You want me to search all of the west peaks!?”
“It is everywhere from the west side till the Lotus peak. I haven’t been there either. Because the person who manages the place just sends things when the time comes, we just receive it.”
“Why do something like that on the west side?”
“The leaders of the old Cult suddenly started killing during a meeting that was taking place there. There were several Soul Mountains which the Demonic side didn’t like, and this area is one of them. It remains on record, so I don’t like speaking about it. And this is something no ordinary person knows.”
To sum it up, Cult Leader too is a superstitious idiot which led to Soul Mountain.
“Who died?”
“I only know that they held the title and were referred to as Guan Yunja.”
“Where are the rest of the Soul Mountains that he doesn’t like?”
“Mount Hang, Mount Song, Mount Hyung, Great Mountain, and Southern Edge.”
“And the reason?”
He answers, touching his chin.
“Very similar to Mount Hua. It is said that the place is good for training and the effects of cultivation are better than in other places. The old leaders who were insane about martial arts climbed one by one and died, and there was this leader of the cult who supposedly converted to Buddhism after that. There are rumors of him being forced to change. There are rumors he was locked in a cave and died. Rumors that people were being cut down here and there, so people were reluctant to head into the mountains, especially the Demonic Cult.”
I sighed.
“Then those who are making this in Mount Hua aren’t from Kangho. They are making it not knowing what it is, all for money?”
“Yes.”
“Fucking beggars all over the world.”
According to this, Mount Hua and the Southern Edge are close to each other, but the rest of the Soul Mountains are far. And looking at the past records of the Demonic Cult in here, it would be so old that even if they visit the place, there would be no traces of them left behind.
I gulp alcohol and entrust work to him.
“I cannot afford to go so far to a place like Mount Hua. I will give you three choices.”
White Face Young Lord looks at me.
“….”
“Don’t like it? If you don’t then you can die, so let’s give you four choices to take.”
“Let me know and I will decide.”
I fold a finger.
“How about a choice which lets you head back? And meet with Yeop Ya-hyung?”
“Pass.”
“So sad. But don’t worry. There are three more options left.”
While pouring drink to him, the guy trembles and I say to him,
“… return to your family and report this in detail. Quite a lot of subordinates died, right? Also report the loss of manpower. And say that the guy known as Byuk Geom betrayed you and clung to the Low-Down Sect. You should also report about your Qi being taken. Why? Because that is the truth. Reports need to be accurate, prompt, and without exaggeration, as they are.. Well, you’re trembling, so you will even get harassed by those who you used to work with. Do you want to do that?”
The guy glares at me and says,
“… pass.”
“Sorry. It would have been perfect for you to get hit and then get dumped.”
The guy takes the drinks with trembling hands.
I ask,
“How many left now?”
“Two more.”
“Good. The next option is good. Right. Going on a trip. Go out and travel. Toward the wilderness, to the valley, dawning sun, carrying sacks of green hills, and holding the festival of the Golden Sun.”
“Speak concisely.”
I continue to tease the guy with an expressionless face.
“How is it? Move and move. No? Well, if you travel for nothing and get caught by a guy like Byuk Geom, you might be beaten to death. Your martial arts are quite low, so you will meet bandits and then meet the wilderness… it will be such a fruitful trip.”
“….”
“But, since the Low-Down Sect has disbanded the Namak Green Forest Alliance, let me inform you that you can have a safe travel. I didn’t tell you to travel by ignoring all this. As you know, I also defeated the Demonic troops once.”
“And the final choice?”
I nod my head as I tell him.
“Actually, money is good. It is also convenient when traveling. I am busy right now, so I cannot be running to Mount Hua right now. Go and clean up the drugs you have been using and then set fire to the place or take all the money that they managed to earn during the past ten years.”
The guy looks at me with an absurd expression for a while and asks,
“And after that?”
I continue in a calm tone.
“It is not of my concern.”
“Hmm.”
“For once in your life, try to live how you want. What is normal and what isn’t…. Go where you want to and do what you want to do and spend the money you want to spend. Try everything without just wishing for it. If you want to kill me after trying everything then come take revenge. If you are still worried about the sect you belonged to, you can return to it. If you change your mind and want to live differently, come buy me a drink then. I will listen to what you were doing all this time. At that time, tell me your name instead of saying that you are White Face Young Lord.”
The guy avoids my gaze and stares blankly outside the inn. In my eyes, this guy is a kid who has never stepped into the outside world. As he continues to stare out the window looking at the sunlight, I say to him,
“I heard you were brought to the battlefield as soon as you were born.”
“….”
“I will give you a vacation, so go.”
He asks in a tone different from the start,
“You are really going to spare me?”
I thought I wouldn’t have to talk anymore so I nodded. To which his expression changes and he gets up as he says,
“Then I will go on vacation right now.”
White Face Young Lord, who is walking to the entrance of the Inn, calls for me.
“Sect Leader.”
“What is it?”
As I look up at him, he puts his hands together.
“I will… head to Mount Hua.”
I sigh as I finally realize that this guy understood what I was saying. After a couple nods I say,
“Go leisurely.”
He lowers his head.
I watch as he steps slowly towards Mount Hua’s direction. If he is unlucky on the way, he will die in the hands of someone by being beaten to death, or, if lucky, he will head home safely.
However, there is a fact he isn’t aware of yet. Merchants who roam the world by foot, having heavy luggage on them, are all weaker than that guy who lost his internal QI.
He probably hasn’t met normal people who didn’t master martial arts. These people go long ways to risk their lives every day in order to feed their family.
He can go on the trip and come back too. And only when he realizes that he was able to escape from the dark path will he be truly free.
After he leaves, I look around the inn with an exhausted mind. I had dealt with just one man, but I felt both physically and mentally exhausted.
Suddenly, I look at the server who is standing quietly at the kitchen entrance.
The server asks me,
“Sect Leader, would you like some more drinks?’
When I nod, he brings a huge jug, pours it for me and sits across from me. This guy pours the alcohol into the glass that the White Face Young Lord was drinking in and holds out his empty glass.
“Please give me one glass.”
I suddenly come to my senses as I notice the server.
“Ask and I give it. Here.”
“Yes.”
The server takes the drink and says,
“Seems like that frustrating man finally understood the words of Sect Leader. Ah, I thought I was just going to explode and die while listening to you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Still, it seems that there was something which touched me in the end.”
“Good thing. Let’s drink.”
I drink with the server. To an extent, I am feeling a sense of relief. The server wipes his lips with his sleeve and looks at me with a serious expression.
“Sect Leader.”
“What?”
“I’ve heard so many conversations at drinking parties over the course of my life, but it was the first conversation which was grandiose and solemn and interesting but puzzling at the same time. And….”
The server pats his chest.
“I understand with my heart. It seems like Sect Leader was trying to somehow return the feelings of being human to him. And that impressed me.”
I nod and then ask the server,
“Drunk?”
“Not at all. One more drink, please.”
“Have this.”
As I pour myself a drink too, I ask the server,
“Do you know who I am?”
“I don’t know. Sect Leader. Sect Leader. Low-Down Sect. Low-Down Sect. Aren’t you Low-Down Sect Leader?”
“That is me.”
“Drunk?”
“Not yet.”
I giggle with the server too while sharing the drinks. Giving and receiving, this server guy robs me of my alcohol.
“But why are there so few guests?”
The server sighs.
“I know right.”
I turn to the side and put my legs up onto the empty chair.
“Aren’t there no guests here because of you? I don’t think I will come back because you have been drinking all this time.”
“You speak the truth. It could be because of this.”
When I cross my arms and yawn, server says,
“There are no guests so you can sleep well.”
“Right.”
“But how do I get into the Low-Down Sect? Can I join?”
“Who would you want to join?”
“Uh? No, you sent the frustrating man on a trip, so you seem like a nice person.”
“I am not a nice person.”
“Then you’re a bad guy?”
“You can think of me as someone on that side.”
I take out my dagger and wave it to him.
“I am sleeping.”
After sticking the dagger into the table, I close my eyes and the server says,
“Sleep comfortably. I will be alert for the sake of Sect Leader.”
I nod.
“Sure.”
The server says as he walks out of the inn,
“Fine then. Today’s business ends here.”
Even with my eyes closed, I randomly think of a strategy that is closer to my random thoughts. I thought that I had to take Mount Hua and Southern Edge to deal with the Cult Leader. Of course, this isn’t something I can do right away. Because there is an order to things. When I find a disciple I can teach, then it will be nice to train together.
If that ugly demon from the past life, Ghost Demon, Yukgap is alive…
I thought it would be good to send this guy to the Southern Edge. Well, this guy is a skilled person who becomes one of the top ten in the Murim.
Some day when I head up to the Southern Edge Mountain and beat up the ghost of my previous life…
Originally, a brat with a temper, he would be subjected to more evil training. What if he receives spirit qi from the Soul Mountain and trains again and again?
Anything can happen.
.
.
.
If it doesn’t work, I just have to beat them until it works.
